Australia has begun their defense of the Women's T20 World Cup with a dominant 97-run victory over New Zealand. Alyssa Healy, who returned from injury, led the way with a powerful 55, her highest score in T20 format since the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup Final. With her contributions, Australia posted a challenging total of 173/9 in 20 overs.
In response, New Zealand lost Suzie Bates on the first ball and were unable to recover, being dismissed for just 76 in 14 overs. Ashleigh Gardner, the top-ranked all-rounder in Women's T20Is, was the standout performer, taking a stunning five-wicket haul with her best T20I bowling figures.
Alyssa Healy and captain Meg Lanning built a 70-run partnership for the second wicket until Amelia Kerr bowled the latter for 41. Alyssa and Ellyse Perry then took over, cruising to a 50-run partnership in just 28 balls.
Ellyse swung the bat, hitting Amelia over the cover boundary, but was gone for 40 shortly after. Alana King and Tahlia McGrath were also dismissed in quick succession, but Australia still managed to reach a score above 170.
In defense, Megan Schutt dismissed both openers in the first over and the rest of the Australian team continued to dismantle the New Zealand batting order. Amelia and Bernadine Bezuidenhout briefly stabilized the innings before falling to Ellyse.
New Zealand's slide continued as Lea and Hannah Rowe were accounted for by Ashleigh in quick succession. In the end, New Zealand lost three wickets for just four runs in 11 balls and Ashleigh took the final two wickets to secure the victory for Australia.
With this win, Australia starts their Women's T20 World Cup defense on a high note and will look to continue their dominant form in their upcoming matches.
Brief Scores: Australia 173/9 in 20 overs (Alyssa Healy 55, Ellyse Perry 40; Amelia Kerr 3/23, Lea Tahuhu 3/37) beat New Zealand 76 all out in 14 overs (Amelia Kerr 21, Bernadine Bezuidenhout 14; Ashleigh Gardner 5/12, Megan Schutt 2/8) by 97 runs